Most helpful positive review

The In-Ear 3 from Creative offers superb quality. I have been using the In-Ear 2 for a long time since its inception, and I have been very happy with the quality. I have tried several earphones for its price range*, and I know I am a proud owner of In-Ear2. And then In-Ear3 came out, with a hefty price tag. Even until now, the price stands at $150 from the official Creative store. I got one here at Amazon for under $99. What I got surprised me.

What I Like:(+) Dual Armature Driver, gives superior audio quality from single driver earphones (dual-drivers are RARE).(+) Very comfortable fit, I could wear this all day without noticing it. The In-Ear2 is a LOT lighter, but I find this one a lot more comfortable to wear. I have been wearing all my earphones over the ear, and this one is made exactly with that in mind. Very ergonomic.(+) For under $100, this is a grab. I would say comparable earphones are priced at least twice this one, like those from Etymotic and Shure. Sure, those may be a little bit better, but for the price, no one can beat this.(+) Elastic cord. Finally, they chose the elastic type cord found in their low-end earphones like EP-630, versus their "durable" hard cord found on both In-Ear and In-Ear2. I actually find these a lot more durable considering real-world use.

What I don't Like:(-) The plug is a little easy to break because it uses a straight plug. I broke mine, as I broke my In-Ear 2 plug. By "breaking", I don't mean unuseable. A 33-cent glue will fix it. I am actually delighted to know that the In-Ear3 has more protection at the plug. When i broke my In-Ear2 plug, the wires are visible. With the In-Ear3, the wires are still covered by the elastic cord. A big plus. I personally think an L-shaped plug would have been better,, it it could just be from the way i use my devices and the earphones.

Recommendation:I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT. Don't waste money on both Beats and Bose. They sound crappy and they are expensive - you only really pay for the brand name. Sennheiser is AS GOOD as creative, but offers its products at twice the price (e.g., compare Creative EP-630 and Sennheiser CX-300, you'd be surprised to know that they use the same hardware). I know, because I tried these products.

I like Creative products, but this is not a biased review (See my other Creative products review, a bit more harsh).

Most helpful critical review

I bought this based on the number of reviews and praises that many have written about these earphones. The sound is very good for the price point. It is crisp and clear and the separate drivers really make a unique combination versus the traditional single driver setup. The fitting takes getting used to because it fits from the ear canal to the back and the wire runs over the back of your ear starting in the front.

Packaging was very nice and earphones were well displayed. Certainly much better than the sub $30 phones you usually see at CVS or whatever.

The problem is the wires are too thin and frail. They don't seem to hold up very well to the rigors of every day movement. I don't recommend these at all for workouts. I also feel the wires after the Y-split are too short considering it has to be wrapped around the back of your ear from the front. I think a few more inches on each side would've helped a lot. These aren't insanely expensive but they aren't cheap either. I wish the wires held up better considering how well these perform technically.

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The In-Ear 3 from Creative offers superb quality. I have been using the In-Ear 2 for a long time since its inception, and I have been very happy with the quality. I have tried several earphones for its price range*, and I know I am a proud owner of In-Ear2. And then In-Ear3 came out, with a hefty price tag. Even until now, the price stands at $150 from the official Creative store. I got one here at Amazon for under $99. What I got surprised me.

What I Like:(+) Dual Armature Driver, gives superior audio quality from single driver earphones (dual-drivers are RARE).(+) Very comfortable fit, I could wear this all day without noticing it. The In-Ear2 is a LOT lighter, but I find this one a lot more comfortable to wear. I have been wearing all my earphones over the ear, and this one is made exactly with that in mind. Very ergonomic.(+) For under $100, this is a grab. I would say comparable earphones are priced at least twice this one, like those from Etymotic and Shure. Sure, those may be a little bit better, but for the price, no one can beat this.(+) Elastic cord. Finally, they chose the elastic type cord found in their low-end earphones like EP-630, versus their "durable" hard cord found on both In-Ear and In-Ear2. I actually find these a lot more durable considering real-world use.

What I don't Like:(-) The plug is a little easy to break because it uses a straight plug. I broke mine, as I broke my In-Ear 2 plug. By "breaking", I don't mean unuseable. A 33-cent glue will fix it. I am actually delighted to know that the In-Ear3 has more protection at the plug. When i broke my In-Ear2 plug, the wires are visible. With the In-Ear3, the wires are still covered by the elastic cord. A big plus. I personally think an L-shaped plug would have been better,, it it could just be from the way i use my devices and the earphones.

Recommendation:I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT. Don't waste money on both Beats and Bose. They sound crappy and they are expensive - you only really pay for the brand name. Sennheiser is AS GOOD as creative, but offers its products at twice the price (e.g., compare Creative EP-630 and Sennheiser CX-300, you'd be surprised to know that they use the same hardware). I know, because I tried these products.

I like Creative products, but this is not a biased review (See my other Creative products review, a bit more harsh).

My first impression of these wasn't positive, but I'm very glad that I gave them another chance. These headphones have a high sensitivity, so they'll play loud - but they will also make any noise in your amp pretty obvious. That second part led me to have a bad first impression of them because everything that I plugged them into at first had a loud hiss. I knew it wasn't the headphones, but I still didn't like it. I didn't want to have to buy more electronics just to enjoy my new headphones. After trying a few different players, I got my iPod out of the car. The iPod actually had very little hiss, so I sat back to enjoy. The sound was nice and crisp, but I thought that they lacked bass compared to some other earbuds that I own. They are comfortable to me, and they do a good job of blocking out ambient noise. The level of hiss and (to me) lack of bass made me set them aside, though.

Skip forward a few months. Remembering how comfortable they were, I gave these another try. This time, I listened to a wider range of music. After comparing them back and forth to some other earbuds (mostly the Moshi Vortex and Sennheiser CX300-B), I really began to enjoy them. The apparent lack of bass that I had noticed the first time was, I believe, due to me being used to too much bass. The more that I listened, the more that I came to enjoy these over the others. These are also more comfortable to me than the Moshi Vortex because they are lighter weight and stay comfortable for longer.

Every noise-isolating earbud that I've used has an issue with the cords making noise, and these are no different. They isolate noise by forming a seal between the rubber ear pieces and your ears, and that couples the earbuds to your ears. So, when the cords move around, you'll hear them. It's not horrible, btw, but I think it's worth noting. The Moshi Vortex is probably the best that I've used because the cords are more cloth-like on the outside, but they aren't much better than these.

$100 is a lot to spend on earbuds, and I don't have enough experience with what's out there to say if these are the best choice. I can say, however, that I think that they sound great and are comfortable. I definitely recommend that you consider these if you're looking for noise-isolating earbuds.

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I have 8 IEM's ranging in price from $100 to $200 and the Creative Aurvana 3 is very good for its price (I got them for $104 but even at $150 its still worth it). I've been wanting a mid-centric sounding IEM but didn't want to spend $300 or more on some Shure's or Ortofon's so these were right in my price range. The come with a nice case and travel case with plenty of extra tips. The build quality seems really good and I think they look very sleek also, now lets talk about the reason we get IEM's, the sound.

I've read people saying the bass was light but to my ears the bass is just fine with the right amount of depth and weight. It does start to fall off at the lowest of lows but not to bad at all and it has really nice mid to upper bass with a good over all texture. I listen to a lot of EDM so I need to have bass and these satisfy me just fine.

Now to the meat of the sound (and music in general) with the mids. They are the focal point of the sound signature and the reason I got them in the first place. Very smooth and detailed but not overbearing, it really makes vocals shine as well as the midrange melodies in the electronic music. I love the way pianos and other synths sound its just so, as the title says "liquid smooth". I've never had a IEM or headphone for that matter sound so lush and if the Ortofons e-Q7 and even the e-Q5 sound better than these I'm going to have to save and pick a pair up.

The highs while the least present part of the sound are still there and have good detail. There a bit rolled off at around 13kHz or so but it doesn't detracted from the over all sound quality. The highs are the only thing that you could say is a very small con about the IEM but its nothing a little EQ'ing can't fix, the Aurvana 3 is a very nice sounding IEM.

Soundstage is very cohesive over all in that its not huge but defiantly not small, everything is just centered nicely. It does have some large sounding moments but I'd say its average to slightly above. Over all presentation is very smooth as you would think from a mid-centric signature with a relaxing feel to it all, these are not loud in your face but just nice and, here's that word again "smooth".

The Creative Aurvana 3 is not the end all be all of mid-tear IEM's but it is a very capable sound that might not suit everyone with its mid-centric sound but for a smooth, lush, liquid sound they would be on my list of a great IEM that wont brake the bank.

Update:

Now that I've had these for about 2 weeks I'm liking them even more after having gone through the "brain burn-in" (because BA's don't have a regular burn-in like some dynamics do). The sound signature of the Aurvana 3 is one of my favorites along with my Yamaha EPH-100 though their both different. Its lush midrange just make all my music sound great and the highs are more open after some EQ'ing (which I don't do for most of my IEM's but just the highs with these) and with help from my FiiO E6 the bass has much more texture and depth.

I did some A/B'ing with my TF10, GR07 and Westone W2. I can't believe that I like the Aurvana 3 as much as my TF10 and it sound better the GR07 which I don't think is as good as people say atleast not to me though its still a good IEM. With the Westone it has better highs but the Aurvana 3 has better mids and bass is slightly better on the W2 but I don't think its any better in SQ than the Creative. Its just as detailed as my other BA's and with its smoother sound it just really is one of the best IEM's at its price point. Also these shine with my Cowon player, it makes them sound more full with better bass response and has a bigger soundstage using the BBE ViVA 2 setting.

For the price around $100 I think these are an absolute steal and are one of the better mid-tier IEM's out imo.

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I bought this based on the number of reviews and praises that many have written about these earphones. The sound is very good for the price point. It is crisp and clear and the separate drivers really make a unique combination versus the traditional single driver setup. The fitting takes getting used to because it fits from the ear canal to the back and the wire runs over the back of your ear starting in the front.

Packaging was very nice and earphones were well displayed. Certainly much better than the sub $30 phones you usually see at CVS or whatever.

The problem is the wires are too thin and frail. They don't seem to hold up very well to the rigors of every day movement. I don't recommend these at all for workouts. I also feel the wires after the Y-split are too short considering it has to be wrapped around the back of your ear from the front. I think a few more inches on each side would've helped a lot. These aren't insanely expensive but they aren't cheap either. I wish the wires held up better considering how well these perform technically.

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These are the best sounding ear buds I've ever owned, with a lovely balanced sound. Some have complained about the lack of bass, but they are better in this regard than the sets of Etymotics I used previously. By using the bass boost in the settings of my Ipod, the bass is just fine, at least for me. The packaging is very classy with a few different sizes of tips included. They are ingeniously designed to fit snugly in the ear.

So why four stars and not five? Well, the noise isolation aspect here is VERY overrated. If you expect to drown out noisy co-workers or that guy sitting next to you in the coffee place on his cellphone, think again. I used the best tip size for me and the seal just isn't that great. I even tried the foam tips, but they are too small for me and not nearly as efficient as the ones included in my old Etymotics. That's the one place where I miss the old set.

The other problem I have with these is that once you get them in your ear snugly, the sound can, depending on what you're listening to, be too loud even at the lowest levels. That's also a function of the device you're using: My old 2nd generation IPod isn't quite as flexible as I'd like as far as volume, and combined with the Aurvana headphones, it's a challenge to get the sound where I want it for some music. I can loosen the fit in my ears, but then the isolating aspect is compromised.

So...bottom line, get these for beautiful sound and nice construction, but if you want true sound isolation, look elsewhere.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: As on any set of earbuds, the rubber tips have gotten old and need replacing. But guess what? Creative doesn't sell replacement tips for their ear buds! When contacted about this, the company told me my "only choice" was to send the entire set (!) back IF it was still within warranty. I find this policy to be mind boggling...this is a high quality product that should work for years. It's sort of like throwing your car out when it gets a flat tire. So--very good ear buds, but take this policy into account when considering the purchase.

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Pros- New housing offers an ergonomic earlobe fit for sound isolation.- Dual driver headphone with crossovers that offer very comfortable and tight sound with various music genre.- Music does not distort even at high volume.- Port (tube) has a split partition at the center to clean up the highs and mids.- Price point.

Cons- Weak cable.- straight plugin as oppose to the 90 degree angle plug in.- port (tube) of the headphone has become wider.

Review

As the successor to the In-Ear 2, the Aurvana In-Ear 3s have a lot to live up to. The predecessor already had a very nice crisp sound to them, but the upgraded 3 gives a cleaner, more detailed sound with a completely different housing that's quite welcoming. Creative decided to use the Universal fit style design you normally see from Shure and Westone, and this fit (for me personally) fits the best, even with owning a pair of Westone 4s.

There's quite a bit of detail in the Aurvana 3s. The dual driver with crossover cleans up an imperfection with compressed music and the tube now sports a split to maintain the clean sound of what you're listening to. Theres a tight bass and treble response out of this headphone, and when you compare it to a pair of UE700s or even Shure 315s, you really do get quite a warm sound out of these. While not incredibly clean sounding like the Westone series or Shure, the Aurvana 3s make sure that even with mid-range music, you can hear things you normally can't hear with a basic pair of headphones.

The price tag is also nice. At 150 MSRP, you get a good solid sound with a dynamic range that beats headphones such as the Beats, Klipsch S4, and Ultimate Ears 700s. The Aurvana 3s also are loud. If you crank the volume up to its max, there's very little to no distortion out of these headphones, where as if you try with the UE700s, theres quite a bit of it. This also boils down to what type of music your listening to, and the encoding of the audio files on your player.

There are a few concerns with this headphone however. Like the Aurvana 2s, the 3s sport a straight plugin which in most cases is bad. If it gets caught in something or if you sit on the straight plugin, the headphones done. Even worse is the cable. The Aurvana 2s had a pretty sturdy cable even with a straight plugin, and I've had them for over a year with no breaks. The cable in the 3s however feels very weak. It's almost comparable to a Klipsch cable and one of the things that is crucial when buying a headset besides the sound is the durability of the product. If it gets pulled just hard enough, the headphones will break.

The last concern is the port. The Aurvana 2s have a smaller tube port that could fit small in-ear canals that usually need a triple flange tip, but because Aurvana 3s port has a split for better clarity, the port got widen. It's not so much a bad thing, but for those who do have tight canals the fitting may be bad for them.

Overall the headphones have a lot going for them. They come with different sized tips, a carrying case and good warranty.

If you're looking to upgrade to a get headset without having to fork over a lot, pick these up :).

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For the price, it is near unbeatable. I find this comparable to the Shure SE215 and the TDK BA200s, but at the price of Klipsch S4s (which aren't that good). I love the noise isolation, which basically makes the bus engine sound like very soft whining in the distance. You pretty much can't hear anything with the earphones on and playing music at reasonable volumes, not even someone close to you (so don't use these when talking to others). In terms of audio quality, it's simply excellent. I'm not really a bass person, so the bass delivers a solid punch but not too much of it. Highs are good, as are mids. I would readily recommend this, as you aren't paying for the brand, as compared to the other manufacturers which already have a well established brand.

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Despite having read the cautions I decided to buy them anyway. That was back at the end of December. They worked (emphasis on "worked") great . Here we are at the end of March and the fun's over. Yesterday the left ear died. Well, it didn't actually die completely. Had it died completely I would have worried that it was something I did. No, the sound is still there, but so soft you have to listen carefully to hear it. Too bad too. I liked them a lot. CAUTION!!!

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The most important thing is to understand that every ear is different. This goes even your own left and right ear. They are different. So it is always frustrating to see reviews from people who trash headphones because they don't fit well. You have to take the time to find the ones that fit your ears. Not all earphones are for everyone and while most manufacturers work to be all things to all ears it is still a challenge and you have to make some effort to find ones that fit your ears.

I have very difficult ears to fit. I have been through many many earphones between bluetooth and corded. Most recently I bought klipsch 3m and etymotic to compare. These by far offered the best overall fit and sound quality. Sound is another subjective arena. What I mean by that is everyone's ears pick up different sound and your brain processes what you like. This also depends on what type of music you like to listen to. the klipsch offered good sound and was very clean. I found sounds in some of the music previously that it picked up, which was really cool. The downside was that it overproduced them and became annoying. The other issue was I couldn't get them to stay in my ears when working out. They were close but just not enough to keep.

Then I played the etymotic mc5. Wanting to keep at least under $100. Maybe this wasn't a fair comparison because the aurvana are listed for $150. so maybe the hf5 would have been better. but the specs where very close. anyway, the etymotic just doesn't have the bass needed to play across various types of music. classical was great. However, pop, rap, etc. just was very thin and couldn't produce all the range sounds appealing to my year. that said others who like little to know bass would find these pleasing. build quality was good. I have returned them.

Now for aurvana, They fit perfect and really sealed in my year well. The dramatically helps with any in ear sound experience. I really like the behind ear loop and how they fit inside the ear. I have run and worked out in them with great success. the sound quality produced a clean sound and bass was just right. If you want more you can always boost it with an equalizer. I listened to various types of music and each time I plugged in these I would always have to turn the volume down. These really put out the sound and would recommend these to anyone. the price is right and it you like your music for the price I don't think you could go wrong. One note is that the cord is easily tangled. Hopefully they will change the cord out to a flat one at some point.

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These are excellent for me overall. I play Bass on stage, and we use in-ear monitors to keep the stage volume low so our front-of-house guy doesn't have as hard a time mixing. I don't like wearing over-the-ear cans on stage, and other earbuds I tried were lacking on low-end support for my bass. These have great low-end support, so I can actually hear my Bass and the low end of the electronic drum kit we use, and I don't loose the high end of the guitars/keyboards/vocals either. I made some custom-molded tips for them, so they seal even better and really lock in the sound so I can keep the volume lower and still hear what I need to without destroying my ears.

My only real complaint about them would have to be the cable quality. Within a couple months, I already nicked the insulation on one lead with the adjustable slider while cinching it up behind my head. It didn't destroy the cable, but I've found I've got to be very gently with the cables on these. While the cable is nicely flexible, it is also fragile. I wish they had made these with modular cables that could be replaced easily.